France

France, the land of the French; a nation standing in the
front rank among the powers of Europe. It occupies a geographical
position of peculiar advantage in the western portion of it, having a
southern foreshore on the Mediterranean and a western and northern
seaboard washed by the Atlantic and the English Channel, possessing
altogether a coast-line, rather undeveloped however, of upwards of 2000
m., while to the E. it abuts upon Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and
Italy. It is divided into 87 departments, including Corsica. It is mainly
composed of lowland and plateau, but has the Cévennes in the S., while
the Pyrenees and Alps (with the Vosges and Ardennes farther N.) lie on
its southern and eastern boundaries. Rivers abound and form, with the
splendid railway, canal, and telegraph systems, an unrivalled means of
internal communication; but there are singularly few lakes. It enjoys on
the whole a fine climate, which favours the vineyards in the centre (the
finest in the world), the olive groves in the S., and the wheat and
beetroot region in the N. The mineral wealth is inconsiderable, and what
of coal and iron there is lies widely apart. Her manufactures, which
include silk, wine, and woollen goods, are of the best, and in fine
artistic work she is without an equal. The colonies are together larger
in area than the mother-country, and include Algeria, Madagascar, and
Cochin China. The French are a people of keen intelligence, of bright,
impulsive, and vivacious nature; urbane, cultured, and pleasure-loving in
the cities, thrifty and industrious in the country; few races have given
so rich a bequest to the literature and art of the world. Roman
Catholicism is the dominant form of religion, but Protestantism and the
Jewish religion are also State supported, as also Mohammedanism in
Algiers. Free compulsory education is in vogue. The Government is a
Republic, and there are two chambers—a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies.
Originally occupied by Celts, the country, then called Gallia, was
conquered by the Romans between 58 and 51 B.C., who occupied it till the
4th century, when it was overrun by the Teutons, including the Franks,
who became dominant; and about 870 the country, under Charles the Bald,
became known as France. The unsettling effects of the great cataclysm of
1789 have been apparent in the series of political changes which have
swept across the country this century; within that time it has been
thrice a monarchy, thrice an empire, and thrice a republic.